What Heroes Are Made Of
by E.V.A.Graebel
Summary: Takes place after Home. It's not so easy to kill a Cylon when the lines between man and machine blur just a little bit further. FINISHED.
1. Chapter 1

"What Heroes Are Made Of" takes place after (Home, Part 2). Any errors are mine, timeline etc and a little bit of AU for some things. Also, I do not own any of the characters from Battlestar Galactica – but then you knew that.

I appreciate any feedback.

* * *

**The Cylons were created by Man  
They evolved  
They rebelled  
There are many copies  
And they have a plan **

**47,853 survivors  
Are in search of a home  
Called Earth**

A contact flickers into existence on the drydas screen for less than a second and then vanishes. Lt. Gaeta snaps his head toward the screen but its already gone.

"What was that?" Tigh snaps as he turns toward him.

Gaeta's hands fly across the console, checking diagnostics and trying to extend the range just a little. "Unknown, sir."

"It's not fracking unknown. I just heard a contact."

"Sir." Dualla interrupts.

Tigh ignores her for a moment. "Set Alert 1 in the Fleet and get the old man down here."

"Sir," Dualla pushes it again. "You've got to hear this." She flips the comm. from her earpiece to the overhead speaker.

"…Now, I know we weren't supposed to 'borrow' that last crate of ambrosia. But three years in space is a long time to keep the men dry. I mean, Lords above, the whole Fleet?" The man's rough voice is spun with humor, he thinks this is incredibly funny as the crew of Galatica listens in dumbstruck amazement.

Tigh snatches up the handheld. "Who the hell is this?"

There is a long pause and when the voice comes back on it has lost all of its humor. "This is Captain Harstock of the Exploration Vessel Journey. Colonial transponder to follow."

Dualla nods to Tigh as the transponder is verified. Behind them both, Adama steps into the CIC, his face lined with worry.

"Transponder received." Tigh tells him. "It's real."

"What is it?"

"An E.V. calling herself the Journey."

Adama snatches the handset away from Tigh. "Journey, this is Commander Adama of the Battlestar Galactica. How long have you been on mission?"

A crackle of static, then Harstock's answer. "Galactica, we are eight months out of Sagittaron on a three year mission. We're conducting geological surveys. Commander, what the frack is going on?"

* * *

The Quorum meeting with the President isn't going the way that Tom Zarek would have liked. His sway over her is entirely gone with her new backing from Commander Adama. The brief moment of power was lost entirely too quickly. Now he's bound again by the rules of the Quorum and forced to listen to the arguing when a solid plan of action would be so much more effective.

He glances up as Billy rushes in. The aide's hands have a piece of paper in them that looks like it came straight off the wireless.

"What's wrong, Billy?" Laura Roslyn had followed his eyes and saw Billy as well.

"Madam President. Members of the Quorum." It takes him a moment to gather himself. "A new ship. A ship from the colonies. We've found more survivors."

Silence falls and Tom finds himself watching the joy transfuse the faces around him. When civilization is confined to a 5-figure number, every single loss or gain suddenly takes on enormous significance.

The President's voice is quiet, almost reverent. "None of the colonies were using exploration vessels. Those are older models, phased out five years ago. I was at their decommissioning." No one mentions how she'd also been at the Battlestar's, no one needs to.

But Tom has the answer. "Madam President, none of the wealthier colonies were using them, but Sagittaron still was. Our planet was always poorer than the others. E.V.s were all they could afford."

Billy nods. "That is how she's identifying herself. They've been out here for eight months. They missed everything. They don't even know that the Colonies are gone."

"How many?"

He pauses, a little confused as to whether she means the ship or something else.

"How many people?" Laura clarifies.

Billy nods, this he can answer. "A crew of sixty. Commander Adama requests your presence to meet them."

"President Roslyn," Tom breaks in. He's unwilling to lose all of his influence and every new Sagittaron represents another vote that can be swayed. "As Sagittaron's representative…"

"Yes, of course." She smiles as she stands and approaches the board. Her hand does not tremble as she wipes the slate clean and inscribes a new number upon it.

**47,913**

**

* * *

**

The conference room is silent with shock. Captain Harstock has brought two members of his crew with him but none of them were prepared for what Adama has just told them. Harstock, a man in his late 40's with fiery red hair and ruddy cheeks looks like he's on the verge of having a heart attack. Disbelief and other conflicting emotions race across his face, but its worse because he can tell that this is no joke. They haven't met a court martial, but the last members of humanity. It's a hard blow to take.

Xanthes, Harstock's second-in-command, has turned green underneath skin so black that it seems impossible to take any color. A tall regal looking man, he seems to have no outward response except for the color change, but inwardly, he is close to falling on the floor. A wife and three children – gone.

The last crew member is one of the youngest. Nya Reece has her black hair secured in a queue but her grey eyes are full of horror. She is the first watch pilot on Journey and can't believe what she's hearing as Adama continues to tell them about the discovery of human-looking Cylons and the betrayals they've lived through.

Her eyes turn from him to the others within the room. Tigh who looks uncomfortable to be present at such a blatant display of grief. Roslyn who is maintaining silence in the face of Adama's description of life in the new Fleet. And Tom Zarek, whom they all recognized from the moment he met them on the loading dock.

Its almost too much. But then, her attention snaps back to Adama.

"The Cylons we know of," he is saying. "have gone by the names Sharon Valerii, Aaron Doral, and Leoben Conoy."

"What?" The word bursts out before Nya can stop it. Then the sickness in the pit of her stomach flies upward and she runs from the room. A blind panic. Running. Walls. The crew dart from her path as she slams through the door of the head and into a bathroom stall.

She vomits until there is nothing left to come up. And then dry heaves for another minute.

"Ms. Reece?" The voice is quietly concerned.

Nya tries to regain her composure, but there is a thin line between desperate fear and sanity and she's on the edge. "I – I need a moment."

"Are you okay?"

"No. He's not serious. The Commander, he can't be serious." She pushes the door open and staggers to the sink. The cold water doesn't make her feel any better but it stops the sickening wave of vertigo that threatens to drown her. "You can't be fracking serious?"

"It's a lot to take in."

"Oh gods," she lunges back into the stall as her stomach revolts again. When its over she slumps to the floor as Tom Zarek looks down at her. "It happened five and a half months ago?"

"Yes."

She's speaking so softly he can't tell if she's speaking to herself or to him. "We thought it was space sickness. It happens on long voyages. But it…it couldn't be. I've known him for over two years. It couldn't be…"

"Ms. Reece. Nya." He says more urgently as he squats next to her slumped form. "What are you talking about?"

"Five and a half months ago," there is no emotion in the words. "Leo tried to open an unsecured airlock."

A chill runs down Zarek's spine. "What did you say his name was?"

"I talked him down. It can't be. It has to be a coincidence. Just space sickness. It happens. I….I…"

Tom shakes her hard. "What was his name!"

"Leoben. Leoben Conoy."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the reviews. **

**This is set right after Home because I thought that Adama's willingness to accept Sharon's help with the logic bomb was a little hard to understand if there wasn't more evidence that Cylons could be swayed away from their programming. **

**Before I give away too much….back to the story.**

* * *

Nya bursts back into the conference room with Tom on her heels. Her eyes are wide and fevered looking as she rounds on Harstock. "Cap, they're going to kill him!"

"Nya, sit down."

"Cap…" she pleads.

"SIT DOWN!" Harstock's voice roars through the room. "By the Orai! Sit down, Nya!"

She trembles as Tom's hand touches her shoulders and guides her to a seat. Her black hair has started to come free of the queue and she has lost much of the poise that she had upon arriving to Galactica.

Xanthes looks up briefly as she sits next to him, but the tears that he's trying to hold in are squeezing out despite his best efforts. He neither weeps, nor gives in, just sits there as heavy tears roll out from his eyes.

Nya reaches over and grasps his hand tightly.

Adama gives them time to regain their composure. "There are no words that can lessen the shock of this. Cylons are to be executed."

"Ma'am?" Harstock queries the President. "Leoben is a member of my crew. Despite what he tried to do, he's never harmed anyone."

"How did you stop him?" She asks softly.

Harstock's gaze turns to his pilot. Nya matches it and tries to regain her equilibrium. The memory is only too fresh in her mind. Her fear and horror as she watched him start the cycle on the airlock….

…"_Leo?"_

_He looks up at her with confusion on his face but doesn't stop._

"_Leo, what are you doing?"_

"_I don't know."_

_Nya grabs at his arm and he throws her off. She whirls and slams a hand on the inner seal, locking them both within the airlock. Now the ship is saved but if he does this, if he opens the lock, they will both die. But he's anticipated that and his fingers fly over the keypad, overriding her authorization and preparing both doors to open simultaneously._

"_What are you doing?" She whispers from the floor. "We'll all die."_

"_Nya?" A questioning tone enters his voice._

"_You'll die. I'll die. Everyone single one of the crew will die. Leo. Leoben. Don't do this." There is fear in her words and this seems to speak to him more than the words themselves._

_He shakes his head as though there's a tick. "I'm supposed to do this. Open the airlocks at the appointed time. I have to do this. I'm supposed to do this."_

"_Why?"_

"_I don't know." His hand drops away and his head drops as he tries to find the reason within himself. "I don't know."_

"_Everything in this world is a choice." The words echo as the cold, dark part of space seems to suck the heat from the room. A chill descends over both of them as his hand steals back toward the keypad. She won't be able to outfight him, weekly games of Pyramid have taught her the futility of that, his frame hides tremendous strength. _

"_It's a choice, Leo. Your choice. There is nothing out there except for death. Come back to us. Come back to me."_

_Long seconds pass and he pulls his hands back down to his side. She lunges for him and hugs him tightly to her. He leans down on her for comfort as he can't reconcile his actions with anything else inside of him. _

_The crew of Journey is banging on the hatch as they turn back toward the light._

"I'm very sorry." Laura Roslyn has come across the room to the young woman from the Journey. She hates the deception that the Cylons have used almost as much as the needs of state that require her to make the decisions she has to make. "These are treacherous beings full of lies and dangerous programs."

"How can they make a machine…to fool a man?"

"I'm not entirely sure. But you haven't been the only one misled by them." Laura turns towards Commander Adama and gives him a brief nod. "We'll interrogate this copy and then order his execution."

Only Xanthes' arm across Nya's chest keeps her from bursting out of her seat. "No!"

The Journey's XO forces her back down. "They have destroyed our lives. If he is one of them, he deserves to die. For my wife and daughters. For your father's sake. One life is not enough to repay the deaths of thousands." He pauses. "Nya, Sagittaron is gone and it is Leoben's fault as certainly as if he'd been there. He would have killed us if you hadn't been there. You know that."

"Captain," Adama says in the silence that follows Xanthes' pronouncement. "I'd like you to speak with my CAG regarding the best way to take _it_ into custody."

Harstock nods and crosses the distance to Nya as Roslyn backs away. The crew of the Journey huddle together without speaking for a long moment, drawing the comfort of long familiarity to sustain them. The Captain has lost almost all of the ruddiness within his cheeks. Long-term exploration has not prepared them to deal with decisions of this magnitude, they are going home to kill one of their crew.

"Pilot Reece." The formality is forced. "Are you in control of yourself?"

"Yes, sir." But no one believes her.

Tigh speaks in a hushed tone to Adama who nods. The older man gestures to get Harstock's attention. "We have something you need to see."

* * *

The morgue is cold and silent except for the gasps of shock. The bodies of the Cylons, Leoben and Sharon Valerii, are laid out for the Journey's crew. Doctor Cottle pulls the sheets back over their faces as Tigh waits stone-faced.

"The first Leoben tried to kill the old man right after the war. The second tried to kill the President before she shoved him out an airlock. Boomer, I mean Valerii, tried to blow up our water supply and put two bullets in Adama's chest. They're trying to kill us all."

Nya steps forward and pulls the sheet on Leoben back down so that she can see his face. The corpse was cleaned and autopsied but she can see the damage from where his head was bashed in. Her heart refuses to reconcile this corpse with the man she knows but his words in the airlock keep coming back to haunt her.

"_I'm supposed to do this. Open the airlocks at the appointed time. I have to do this. I'm supposed to do this."_

She snaps the covering back over them and turns back to the group. Vaguely she realizes that Zarek is watching her with a calculating look, but she doesn't care. "You'll want to capture him without any fighting?"

"Of course." Tigh answers.

* * *

Leoben is working in the engine room. His face and a broad section of his blond hair is streaked with grease and oil. He's wearing the khaki uniform of the Journey rolled around his waist and a black t-shirt that hides most of the other grease stains. He glances up as Nya steps across the doorframe.

"Hey." He's genuinely glad to see her. "So what's up with the mystery fleet? We in trouble?"

"No."

He puts down his wrench and moves to wrap his arms around her when she pulls away. "What's wrong? Nya?" A little bit joking, he weaves his head trying to catch her eyes. "You look like somebody just died."

"Leo, do you remember the airlock?"

He pulls back startled. "A touch of space sickness. That's what the Doc said. Why do you bring that up?"

Her face crumples and she slams the injection gun into his arm. One trigger pull and a heavy load of sedation punches into his system. He staggers back and grabs a hold of her. As he loses control of motor function he falls and drags her with him. They crash to the floor as Nya tries to free herself from his grasp.

"What are you doing?" His eyes start to roll as he tries to remain conciousness and his words are slurred. "Nya? What's going on? I love you. What are you doing?"

"You're a fracking Cylon! She shouts at him. "The day you tried to kill us is the same day that the Cylons attacked the Colonies! Everyone is dead because of you!"

"A Cylon?" There is confusion on his face.

Marines swarm into the room under the command of Lee Adama. Two men pull Nya away from the Cylon as it loses the fight to sedation. The very last thing it sees is the woman who saved him being passed, weeping, into the surprised arms of Tom Zarek.

Then darkness - deeper than the space all around them - and the copy of Leoben Conoy falls into it.

* * *

**Stick with me. The next chapter proves that not all Cylons are easy to take captive.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I do remember**

"Are you awake?" Gaius Baltar's cultured voice finally permeates the darkness and Leoben looks up at him. His grey eyes are still hazed with the sedative but he seems remarkably calm.

"Who are you?"

"Baltar." Gaius' air of nonchalance is calculated due to their audience.

Captain Harstock has refused to allow Leoben to be interrogated without himself present and the three Marines that are guarding the shackled and hand-cuffed prisoner with wary eyes. Together they are an audience that Gaius must play for as surely as he plays for Six when she is watching him.

"Baltar." Leoben tests the name in his mouth. "Should I know you?"

"You tell me." Gaius slides a chair across from him and sits. "You're a Cylon so at some point you've had access to their databases. Its there, even if you don't remember it. Do you remember being a Cylon?"

"It's not something that you just remember." His voice has a bit of sarcasm in it. "One minute I was human….and then...Nya betrayed me."

"You're a machine." Harstock intercedes. "You can't betray a machine."

"I was a man until that moment!" Leoben shouts and lunges forward against his restraints. One marine steps forward and slams his rifle into the Cylon's chest. It causes him to tip in the chair and hit the ground.

"Yes, that's becoming more and more common." Gaius says as he looks down at Leoben. Then – to the marines. "Could you put _it_ back up?"

They drag man and chair back to a sitting position as very human looking blood runs down the side of his mouth. He spits it onto the floor arrogantly.

"What are the Cylons' plans?"

Gaius' attention shifts slightly as Six appears just behind Leoben. Today she is wearing a skintight black suit that accentuates every curve as she is want to do. She examines the copy that sits there and smirks. "_Not so proud now, is he_?"

Leoben stares at the men around him and ignores Gaius' question. "Where is Nya? I want to talk to her."

"She's with the Galactica's CAG." Harstock supplies. "Ripping apart your bunk for answers."

"I want to talk to her."

"_Persistent_." Six whispers to Gaius. "_But not very good at hiding. This will be the third copy that you have discovered. All of his vaunted knowledge does him no good if they blow all of him out the airlock_."

"Okay!" Gaius snaps into the air.

Leoben eyes him curiously.

Six gives him a sexy wink and continues her appraisal. "_I never could stand him, you know. All pretentious and high and mighty. Straight from God's mouth to his ear_. _Well, he's still no good at hiding from humans_."

Gaius stomps his foot on the floor at her as the others regard this outburst with even more pique. "Enough!" Then to Leoben. "Tell me what you know about the Cylon presence in the Fleet."

"Who were you speaking to?" The question is suddenly, presciently aware of Six. Gaius' eyes flick to her and then back to Leoben who is waiting patiently.

"You." He covers. "She's knows what you really are. She's seen your copy on the Galactica. She knows that you're a machine.

"Captain," Leoben turns to Harstock. "Whatever I am. I've never treated her wrongly. Let me talk to her."

"No."

A new emotion begins to dawn on Leoben's face, anger.

-----

Lee is as gentle as he can be with the things that are obviously hers, but the Cylon could have hidden things anywhere, and gentleness doesn't get them answers. He pulls engineering coveralls from every drawer while Marines drag the mattress into the hallway and proceed to dismantle it.

She is standing in the corridor with a pale shocked look on her face. Her khaki pilot's uniform looks disheveled and worse for wear.

"Pilot Reece?" He asks softly and hands her a swath of pictures from one of the mirrors. "I know it won't help, but he isn't the first Cylon that has tricked us. Valerii, she is, she was, one of my pilots. I didn't have any clue. No one did."

"Have they made any demands?"

"None." Lee knows how it must feel to be struck with the sudden and horrible news. He's lived through it. "How old are you?"

"28 yahrens last month." Her fingers awkwardly shuffle the pictures that include photos of her and Leoben. Those she plucks from the pile and lets them fall to the floor. "Exploratory vessels encourage long-term pair bonding." Her voice breaks roughly. "I guess I picked the wrong pair to join."

"Don't blame yourself." He tries to determine what might soothe her, but Lee hasn't ever been very good at expressing his feelings. Not to his father and certainly not to Kara, he just doesn't have the skill set to comfort a complete stranger. He settles for patting her shoulder again. "As soon as the interrogation is complete, we'll get rid of this copy and you'll have a chance to start over."

"Get rid of. You don't even say kill."

"You can't kill a machine."

"I would have said you couldn't love one either."

Lee stiffens. First, Helo and now this ship. What line would delineate them if Cylons and humans started to love each other? What would it mean for the war?

"Sir, we haven't fou…."

---

Leoben glares at Gaius and Harstock in turn. The first for being such a fool and the second for sitting idly by and not arguing with any of the inane questions that Leoben is being asked. He is growing desperate with the feeling that he is simply running out of time.

"I'm not in contact with the Cylon Fleet. We've been eight ways past Kobol since leaving Sagitarron. There's no way I could know what was happening."

"But you know now." It's not a question the way Baltar says it. "The minute you awoke, you knew what you were and what happened."

"How did you know that?" He asks the question slowly and watches as the diminutive man's eyes flicker again to empty space before returning to him.

"We've learned that stress reactivates the Cylon memory core."

"Is that what they're calling torture these days?" He asks sarcastically. "I want to see Nya."

"That's not going to be possible." Gaius starts to stand as Leoben lunges back out of his seat.

The Marines try to stop him. But he snaps the shackles in one move. His hands throttle the first Marine, snapping the vertebrae between the second and third cervical attachment. Leoben throws him down and smacks the second's rifle muzzle away from him. It discharges into the wall as Gaius dives for cover.Two punches and that Marine goes down.

The last Marine turns to shoot as the Cylon in Leoben makes a movement too fast for the human eye to track and punches Harstock in the throat. It crushes the windpipe and Harstock's eyes bulge out as the last Marine dives through the open door and slams it shut.

Baltar slams his hands against it calling for the Marine to come back as Leoben squats in front of Harstock.

The big Captain is obviously dying. His normally red cheeks are blistering as he struggles for air that can't find its way into his lungs.

"You shouldn't act against God." He tells the Captain. "When the time of reckoning comes calling, you will be found wanting. You could have trusted me. I haven't harmed anyone here."

The Captain manages to spit blood from his lips and it splatters across Leoben. Leo just wipes it away and waits patiently as suffocation sets in and Harstock slumps to the floor. He turns toward Baltar but something stops him from making that killing blow.

Six is leaning against Baltar protectively even though Leoben can't see her. "_Shhh_," she hisses. "_Don't move. You're safe as long as we don't tempt his programming_."

"This is programming?" Gaius gasps.

"It's not programming." Leoben and Six answer simultaneously.

"Then what do you call it?"

"I'm not one of the Cylons that attacked the Colonies." Leoben searches the Marines until he finds a slender piece of metal that he can use. Standing he jimmies the lock with it and jumps away from the sharp sparks of electricity. The door slides open after another thirty seconds of manipulation. "Come here." He repeats the order more forcefully so that Gaius finally goes to him. He grabs the other man's arm roughly and they set off for the bridge.

"I'll prove it to you."

"How do you intend to do that?"

"I have to show Nya that I wasn't there when they attacked the Colonies."

"They. You. You're all Cylons!" Gaius protests.

"No," there is something else in his voice. "We're not all the same."

"I beg to differ. Your programming will override any choice you think you can make. That's how it works. That's why you're a machine."

"No," Leoben repeats the word as though it alone will hold back the truth. "I didn't blow the airlock. I chose not no."

Six hisses as she inhales sharply, startling Baltar. "_Impossible._"

"It's not impossible." Leoben answers as though he can hear her. "Not for something worth living for."

* * *

**Thanks to everyone reading. Chapter 4 will be up before the end of the weekend and revelations about Sharon and Leoben will threaten the status quo.**

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	4. Chapter 4

**Wow. Thanks to everybody reading. Hope I can keep everyone interested.**

* * *

**Free men**

"…nd anything."

"Captain Adama!" The Marine skids around the corner. "It's loose! It killed Hebet and Morris and the Captain!"

Lee grabs Nya's arm and they run like hell for the bridge, but are too late. Leoben has already taken control of the ship and the Journey pivots away from the Fleet and starts heading out toward the black of space.

The door is locked to forbid them entry and the combined strength of the men present isn't enough to force it open. But brute strength is not always meant to prevail.

Nya steps to it and knocks gently.

"Who is it?"

"Nya." She answers. There is silence for a long moment and she turns to face Lee. "Captain Adama, if I can't talk him down…" She doesn't need to finish it.

"We can take him." Lee asserts.

She shakes her head gently. "Leoben knows more about this ship than anyone. Let me try but take as many of my people as you can and evacuate the ship."

"No." Lee's refusal surprises them all. "As long as I stay on board my father won't blow this ship out of the sky."

Zarek snorts. "Neither of you have the skills to engage in debate with a Cylon."

"You want to stay?" Nya asks him directly.

The older man nods. He's a little surprised at his own offer. The last place he wants to be is on the ship with a crazed Cylon, he doesn't trust Adama that much. The young buck was right about that much. The minute important personnel were off the Journey, Galactica would blow her out of the sky. A few deaths were a small price to pay for the safety of the Fleet. But with Apollo on board, that was going to be the least of their worries.

"I'm a politician." Tom is being utterly honest. "Rhetoric is second nature to me."

"Nya?" Comes the choked question from the interior. "Is that you?"

She lays her head against the cool metal of the door. "Yes, it's me. Leo, let me in."

"I don't want to die. Not anymore." His words are muffled to the others, but to Nya, every word comes clearly and stabs deeper into her heart. "I'm not one of them."

Tears trail slowly out of her eyes as she listens to him, bringing new pain with them, pain that doesn't feel like it will ever end. "Harstock is dead. You killed him."

"He was going to let them kill me!"

"Where are you taking the ship?"

Nya hears the soft words of Lee ordering the Marines to clear the ship. Liquid salt smears across her lips and burns them with the sudden bitterness. She's not frightened, but there doesn't seem to be any end that she can lead him toward that doesn't end in death. "Leoben, please."

The door cracks open and a hand covered in oil and blood reaches out for her. She starts to go through when Lee and Zarek grab a hold. She almost laughs at the absurdity of the tug of war.

"Wait!" Lee shouts. "She doesn't go without us!"

"Why?"

The door opens a little bit wider as Lee shows that he is weaponless. "Because you need some good will hostages or you won't make it any further out of this system."

"I can kill you without even trying."

Zarek puts his hand against the door and opens it just a little bit further. "A chance we'll take."

---

Time opens around this motley crew as they sit in silence even as the shuttles burst away from the Journey and the Galactica turns to chase her.

Baltar sits in silence with a woman only he can see crouched next to him. Six's eyes continually track Leoben but he hasn't made any other indications that he can see or hear her which has her confused. The Vice President is scared and twitchy, his normal self.

Zarek has pulled one of the command chairs out and is sprawled in it. His suit is rumpled and he discards the jacket and tie. Age rests on his face, but not as heavily as it could, his rise to power has returned some of his youth to him. But it also doesn't give away his real reasons for staying, not that he knows all of them himself.

Lee Adama has stripped off his uniform top and is in the doubled-tank top that constitutes casual dress. His eyes flick back and forth between the major players of this drama. As usual he is certain that this was the best decision and equally certain that his father will not think so.

The last two members are seated across from each other, both struggling to find the words that will be able to bridge the huge expanse that now lays between them. Leoben looks tired, echoing the copy of himself who died at Ragnar station. The burden of knowledge seems to be laying heavily upon him, more so when he sees it echoed in her eyes. He reaches out to Nya only to have her flinch, her fingers withdrawing unconsciously as he touches her. Then finally, she faces her fears and looks up at him.

"What are you going to accomplish by this?"

"I don't know." He says honestly. "But I don't want to die. And I don't want you to walk away thinking that I'm a monster."

"Would the Captain agree with that?" She asks sharply. "Or does your programming help you forget that?"

"I'm fighting it. Fighting all the stupid subroutines in my head but I need to know that you understand. I didn't have anything to do with the Colonies. I was with you."

"I don't understand."

Six uncoils from Gaius' side and stalks over to the pilot. She looks down at her and the pilot pales next to the raw sexuality of the Cylon model. But Six's attraction is tainted by the calculating cold-heartedness of her model number. _"He's not supposed to be so soft. God-blessed and a prophet…what does he think he's doing?"_

Gaius glances up at them. "So are you trying to make her believe that you love her?"

Leoben nods his eyes locked with Nya's. "Call it love. Call it fate. Call it whatever words you think do it justice. I heard her voice and it drew me back. I know that stronger than anything else. She is my salvation."

"Words don't take back actions." Zarek intercedes. "You weren't a murderer before – but you are now."

"Is a man justified when he protects his own life? Would you be?"

Six chortles. _"There is something wrong with his programming. Synaptic dysfunction, maybe. Although, he's not a model prone to it."_

"Would you shut the bitch up!" Leoben surges to his feet. "I can hear her!"

Baltar goggles and Six flattens herself on the far side of the room. The others stare at Leoben in confusion, the source of his rage is completely unknown to them. But he can't find it either. Although he can hear the echoes of her voice, the image of Six is something that his eyes can't latch on to even when she dances on the periphery of his vision. He whirls trying to focus, but whatever it is that Six is, he can't access it.

"Leoben?" Nya's voice draws him back yet again. "What are you talking about?"

"There is…" the answer balks in his mind. "It's like hearing God's voice on the edge of sleeping and waking."

Six's jaw drops open, adding shock to surprise. He is now a threat.

"_Gaius, make him tell us how he circumvented programming. Now!"_

"Who do you think you're hearing now?" Gaius tries for levity but the falseness of it falls short.

Leoben snarls and starts toward him but Zarek gets in his path. The former prisoner has twenty years of life behind bars backing up his bulk, where Leoben wiry frame has artificial strength in reserve. Its probably not going to be a fair fight but neither man backs down.

"What do you think you're really going to get out of all this?" Tom questions. "Even if you could prove that you're not following their orders there is nowhere for you to go. They're using human women to try and breed a new generation of Cylons. Nya would be no safer with them than you are here. What do you think you'll get out of this?"

The answer is soft as though he's never had the courage to put these things into words before. "I want to be a free man. Free from Cylons and humans."

"A free man?" Zarek scoffs. " –There is no such thing. All men are slaves; whether of money, chance, mass opinion, or the threatening law. Many are forced to act against their nature. What makes you think you could ever be any different?"

"I have to try."

_"Blasphemy."_ Six whispers into the air.

Gaius is confused about what to do. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he sees the laser pistol that Zarek smuggled in. The butt of it is hanging out of his coat pocket on the chair. Six follows his gaze and nods.

_"Kill him. Kill him, Gaius."_

Leoben shakes his head roughly. "Shut her up!"

"Wait," it's the first time that Lee has spoken. "Maybe he's telling the truth. Like Sharon loves Helo, maybe they are capable of something like human emotion."

"That's part of her programming." Leoben answers just as quickly. "She's supposed to love anyone who can give her a child."

Six flies at Leoben but can't touch him. _"KILL HIM, GAIUS!"_

Leoben turns to Nya. "I'll never be able to prove this to you. No one ever has been able to. God told me to exact vengeance on the crew – even though I didn't know it then – I know it now. If God's purpose is to destroy the one thing that matters to me….then God is wrong."

Six shrieks at the top of her lungs. "_HERETIC!"_

"Nya…" he reaches out for her. "There are no absolutes in this world. Those that insist on them…can't be right. There can't always be lines that divide us. I want to be a free man. I want to chose my future."

Everyone spins at a sudden cough. Gaius has the gun and is pointing it with shaking hands. "You're a machine. A Cylon. Back away, now."

One eyebrow cocks slightly. "Because _she_ told you to? Who's more tied to the machine, Gaius? The man who hears and ignores – or the man who follows unquestioning?"

"I'm chosen!" Gaius shouts back.

"All of God's children are chosen. You're not special."

Gaius shoots.

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**Thanks again for reading. New chapter before Friday. :) And I have to give credit for Zarek's speech on free men. I borrowed it from Euripedes "Hecabe". **


	5. Chapter 5

**The Fates**

The first bullet strikes the bulkhead and drives inward with a shower of sparks and failing electrical systems. Nya jumps toward it and rips it open. She ducks the flames, using her hands to pat out the smoldering wires. Leoben moves to help her as Lee and Zarek move toward the Vice President.

Lee's voice is soft. "Put it down."

"Get away from me!" Baltar's voice cracks from the stress. "Do you know what _he_ is? What _it_ is? It's a machine! You're listening to a machine!"

"Put it down." Lee reaches out for it but Gaius swerves away from him, Six at his shoulder like an avenging harpy.

"He shot the guidance system!" Nya calls out. "Take that frakking thing away from him before he shoots anything else."

"We can reroute power through the subunit." Leoben says as he and Nya turn immediately to the problem of fixing the damage. They both assume that Lee has Gaius well in hand.

"Let me get the toolkit." Nya spins to walk toward the aft wall. The next shot punches a hole through Zarek's arm and the Quorum leader falls. Lee jumps at Baltar and they fight for control of the weapon, but Six lends her strength to the battle and the gun wavers all over the bridge.

Everyone freezes as another bullet strikes the overhead - bursting a light fixture. But no one except Leoben catches Six's movement, pushing Baltar's aim toward Nya. He shouts as though that might stop time…but time never stops. Not for the God-blessed and not for those blessed by Gods.

The last shot echoes out and Lee snatches the gun away from Baltar. He shoves the Vice President away from him and holsters the pistol. A quick glance shows that Zarek's wound is bleeding but isn't serious and Nya is still upright. He strides to the communication relay and opens a line to Galactica.

"Galactica, this is Apollo on board EV Journey."

"We copy that, Apollo." Dee's relief is audible through the connection. "What is the status on board?"

"One injured."

"By the Cylon?"

"Negative, the Vice President." There is silence on the line as Lee gives Baltar a dirty look.

"Nya?" Leoben's question is soft, she hasn't moved since she stopped, like she's waiting for something to happen. "Nya?"

"Daughters of darkling night much-named. Draw near, Infinite Fates, and listen to my prayer." Nya's prayer is not really an answer.

"Gods…" Zarek says it as an epithet.

Blood pours out of her cupped hands and splatters across the floor as a Cylon screams out in horror.

-----

"Why are we coming to this?" Leoben demands as he follows Nya along the rocky coastline of Delta on Sagitarron's uppermost continent.

"Because." She gives him an exasperated look. "The entire crew is coming. You don't go on a long journey without asking their blessing."

They reach the final outcropping and clamber over it. A Priest is waiting for them along with the rest of the crew of the Journey. Many are wearing the robes and garlands of their personal deities and even Nya reaches into her pocket and pulls out the tiny silver chain and pendant that represents Leucothea, savior to sailors and the shipwrecked, both of oceans and stars. Leoben has no such thing and searches himself for the day he lost faith in the gods, only to find no answers.

The Priest begins as soon as they take their places within the circle. "Daughters of darkling night much-named. Draw near, Infinite Fates, and listen to my prayer. From whence you came, wide coursing round the boundless earth. Your power extends to those of mortal birth and born with hope elated. A race presumptuous, and born to decay."

"Whose life is yours in darkness to conceal until each completes his appointed round. And hears from you, Life's last living sound."

The Priest approaches the altar and the sacrifices that have been set up to appease both the Gods and the Fates combined. He sprinkles sacred water across the offerings, each in turn and then pours the remainder out upon the soil. "Let no one speak an ill-omened word on this day."

"So say we all." Answers the congregation except for a silent Leoben.

"These men and women go forth to do your will. Bless them. Keep them safe and bring them home."

"So say we all."

-----

"Put your hands against it!" Lee presses Leoben's hands into her injury. He reaches up and slaps the comm. unit again. "Galactica, we are slowing to initiate boarding. Two injured. I repeat, two injured, one serious."

"Do you require Doc Cottle?" Dee's transmission is overshadowed by Adama's demand.

"Are you hurt, Lee?"

"Not me." Lee is trying to answer and guide Leoben's hands where they can do the most help. "Commander, it's the pilot. Baltar shot the pilot."

"We're coming." The reply is all that Lee needs to hear.

They ease her down to the deck as Zarek grabs his coat and balls it up under her head. Nya is pale and shaking as shock sets in.

"Hang on." Lee orders. Leoben's hands are pressed deeply into her stomach and he stares in shock at the seemingly vast amount of human blood that covers them. His pale blue eyes, dilated with his own fear, are fastened tightly upon the woman that he knows he loves.

Nya's mouth makes the words so softly that it's not audible, but Leoben knows the prayer. "…whose life is yours in darkness to conceal…"

"You're not going to die." He gasps, trying to draw comfort from his own words. "Nya, you can't die. If you die, I'm going to kill him."

Gaius shrinks away on the other side of the room. "I wasn't aiming for _her_!" He shrieks.

Zarek pulls Lee away and replaces the younger man's hands with his own. "Get him out of here. We'll deal with this."

The look Leoben gives him is nothing but gratefulness, but there is a hint of something else underneath. The sheer savagery of a prophet who thinks he has nothing to lose or gain from his next actions. His slippery hands reach for purchase against the skin of her stomach and he jumps as he can feel her pulse race up through the contact as though searching for a new home.

"This was not how it was supposed to happen." He says to her. "God's will is not suffering."

She can't answer as a spasm of pain wracks her body.

"What if God is wrong?" Zarek's voice is so matter-of-factly that Leoben almost mistakes what was asked. Then the words hit home.

"That's blasphemy."

"Not necessarily. If God is so right, you wouldn't doubt the reason for her death. Do you have doubts, Leoben? Your God says that all humans should die. That she should die." Zarek removes his hands and pulls Leoben's away as well. Nya winces as blood begins to pump more strongly from her wound.

"No!" He drives his hands back down to compress the injury and can feel the pulse lose strength as her body tries desperately to stop the hemorrhage.

"Take your hands away. This was meant to be."

"No!"

"So who is right!"

The question brings a howl of anger as the last few subroutines that lingered in Leoben's mind shatter under the onslaught. He topples over and Zarek rushes to reapply the pressure. The human side of him wars with the Cylon side, programming evaporating and giving way to choice. Free choice, bound by no law except his own.

"Leoben?"

"I see now." He reaches down and plunges his fingers into her abdomen. Zarek falls backwards in horror, but Leoben ignores him as he feels for the vein that was nicked when the bullet struck her. Nya faints dead away as he reaches just a little deeper and pinches it off. He sends a tiny spark of energy down through his hand and cauterizes the end of it.

"What did you do?"

Leoben glances up and then back down at the blood coating his hands - her blood. That which he realizes he would die a hundred deaths to protect. "I've chosen a side."

-----

Six slams Gaius into a wall as soon as Lee Adama locks them into the small conference room. Her hair has come undone and is disarrayed around her face. "_He has to die! Of all the things to go wrong! We have to kill him now!"_

"I already tried that." Gaius tries to push her away. "How could he hear you? What the frak are you?"

"_SHUT UP! Don't you understand? He could ruin everything!"_

"I'm the one frakking the imaginary Cylon. He'll tell Adama. Oh my god, he'll tell them. This will be the end of everything. All because of you!"

She snarls, not so beautiful anymore as the vicious beast uncoils from its shell. "_Get a grip, Gaius. This is bigger than you_."

"Not to me it isn't."

She stalks towards him until her face is less than an inch away from his. "_If he can subvert God's word, then it's possible that Sharon can as well_."

"What would that mean?" Confusion is written all across his face.

"_What happens when you become that which you're trying to destroy_?"

"Fates have mercy." The prayer is out of Gaius' lips before he can stop himself. A childhood summoning that reminds him exactly what differentiates humans from Cylons. She would _never_ have made that mistake.

"_Not the Fates, Gaius. God_."

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**Thanks again for reading. I love to hear it all; good, bad and ugly. Sorry for doubting whether or not Sharon can really love Helo - but I always wondered, how could she really know that it wasn't a program? Hopefully the arc will restore some faith. :)**

**Credit for the Fate's prayer goes to the Orphic Hymns which I altered somewhat to use. **

**Chapter 6 preview. Does Baltar really have the faith to finish what he started? What will happen when Zarek and Lee trust a Cylon more than they trust a human? And will it lead to the discovery of Six's real identity?**

**Stay tuned... **


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the delay. Trying to do everything just gave me a horrible cold. Blah. Part I today, Part II soon after.  
Thanks again to everybody reading. **

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**The Price of Freedom – Part I**

She is so still that Leoben imagines he can hear her pulse.

Nya reaches down with the other archers on the line to draw an arrow from the table in front of her. Her shoulders and arms flexing as she sets the tip of the arrow against the sharp recurve. And even though he cannot see her face he knows the words that she is whispering to herself. He never thought of her as religious because the beliefs were so much a part of her nature that she did them unknowingly.

"_Artemis, guide my shot. See that it hits true. As you will it, so it will be_."

Every archer down the line draws.

Inhale…. Exhale…...

Release.

Picture perfect the bows snap in unison and twenty-five arrows shoot down-range at the targets. Feathers guiding and leading twenty-five arrowheads into straw bales.

He does hear several curses as the arrows hit and stick – not always in the bulls-eye. He can see Nya's arrow standing triumphantly in the black dot. A direct hit. He expects to see triumph on her face but there is none. Nya is looking down the line at two other strikes. Perfect shots from two of the other archers, while hers is off center.

She sets down the bow and strips off the right-handed glove as she exits the competition space.

"Nya?" He asks tentatively.

"Come on." She links her arm through his with a smile. "Independence day isn't about winning."

"It was a beautiful shot."

"And I'm out of practice." Nya grins as the crowd roars its approval of a wrestling match. "We don't have much time, let's see what else there is."

"Wait…" A large screen that has been set up in front of a crowd catches his eye. He pulls her toward it through the masses of people listening.

The picture on the screen is almost twenty years old. Several young Sagittaron's are protesting in front of the other eleven Colonial embassies. One, is a young Thomas Zarek. Always the eloquent speaker, he was the forefront of Sagittaron's freedom movement.

"I didn't know you were a supporter." She whispers to him as he shushes to quiet her.

"…**they have no right subjugating us! We are a Colony. One of the Twelve! And no man has the right to use another to serve his will**."

"**FREEDOM**!" The crowd in the video shouts behind Zarek as bonfires are lit.

"**We will have out message heard. We will not remain quiet! Whatever it takes, we will pay!**"

The crowd now cheers again at those words. Independence Day is their unofficial celebration of what these men and women accomplished twenty years earlier. Recognized by no one but themselves, it is a time to remember those who paid the price for freedom.

"Listen to him." Leoben tells her softly. "Such belief. Do you think he still feels the same way? Do you think he still believes in the cause of freedom?"

"Of course." Nya nods. "A man like that doesn't regret anything. He saved all of us. We'd still be working for the other colonies if he hadn't taken the fight to them. Time doesn't change that kind of conviction."

"I wonder." Leoben muses. "I wonder if I could have that kind of devotion."

She smiles and kisses his stubbled cheek with her lips. "I believe in you."

Her affection draws him away from the brooding that he was falling in to, and he gathers her in his arms as they turn away from the screen. On the video a defiant Zarek raises the hand that has the bomb detonater in it and shouts. "**The price of freedom is sacrifice**." And the government building behind him explodes.

------

The hollow thump echoes throughout Journey as a shuttle makes a hard vacuum seal with the hull.

------

Gaius is muttering and fighting with Six when Zarek enters. His head snaps up and immediately his attention catches on the bloody bandage that rings the bigger man's arm.

"That! That wasn't my fault!"

Zarek paces toward him, causing him to back away. "Are you going to blame your mystery woman? Cause I'm curious how the Cylon was speaking directly to you."

The tall blond Cylon flickers back into Gaius' eyesight, although he fights to keep from looking at her. She has exchanged her suit for a scandalous green dress that runs iridescently down her curves. Each sinuous movement of her hips is targeted directly at him. _"You have balls, Gaius. Remember to use them."_

The vice president straightens at the admonition. Much like a child, he waits for every word of praise or punishment from this vision of a woman he once knew. "I don't know anything about a woman. I don't see a woman in here. Do you?" He spins to make the point. "Why would you believe a Cylon? They lie. We know they lie. It's their nature."

"And you?" Zarek asks.

Sputtering in response. "Oh, well you're a fine one to accuse me of lying. I'm sure your motives have always been pure."

"We're not here to talk about me." But the barb has struck slightly and stuck to Zarek. What are his motives measured against the two people on the bridge? Is power the ultimate satisfaction that he's always dreamed it would be?

"Oh yes." Gaius can tell he's had some success and his tone becomes condescending. "An imaginary, invisible woman. Maybe its Virgon come to steal me away to her bower."

Angry flashes quickly over Tom's face. He didn't come here to be played for a fool. "Who is she?"

"Maybe this Cylon is hearing the voice of God!" Baltar shouts at him. "I don't know! I'm not a Cylon mindreader!"

Her words slip between them. _"Now, Gaius. Words said in anger cannot be taken back. Be careful how you speak about God, even to unbelievers."_

"So you don't have any idea what he's talking about?"

"I already told you no!" He snaps back.

"And your propensity to talk to yourself?"

Gaius sniffs. "When I was twelve they determined that my mind works twice as fast as the average man. So I have you beat by a factor of three."

If Meier had been alive the vice president would have been laid out on the floor. But Tom has the politician's wariness of engaging in physical violence, that, and he is no longer a young man. "Vice president or not. You will still have to account for what you've done. Nya Reece may still die."

But Gaius is finished with being questioned and his cockiness rips free. "Yes, about that. You and the pilot interfered with the execution of a Cylon. I'm _sure_ that the Fleet will back your cause against mine. I demand to be released from this cell and given direct access to President Roslyn."

Zarek lets himself out before Gaius can make a dash for the door or some other ill-conceived action. Outside the cell he relocks the door and takes a breather. If the vice president wasn't a Cylon, then Tom is fairly certain that the man is one of the poorest excuses for a human being that he's ever seen. For humanity – even the Cylon has him beat.

------

Boots run across metal-plate decking heavy with the weight of automatic rifles.

------

Leoben brushes his lips across the tender pulse at Nya's neck. They are almost out of time. Then ever so slowly, her eyes open. They wrinkle slightly with joy and a rush surges through his heart.

"I'm not going to die." Her voice is rough and shaky but there is a tiny thread of strength underneath it.

"I know." He kisses her forehead carefully to hide the worry. "But I am."

She doesn't argue with him. The events have shown her what he will face in the Fleet and justifiably. No one will believe that he managed to overcome his programming, especially not after the brutal way he killed the Captain and the Marines.

"This hurts." She tells him instead.

"The doctor is coming."

Nya nods and remains motionless in his arms. "Why did the Cylons start this war? What will they accomplish at the end?"

"It's God's will." But the rote answer falls flat. "That the chosen would rise up to cleanse the universe. But now… I can see the doubts that were never there before. The contradictions. The lies."

Lee is listening to them. "Baltar. You said there was someone with him who sounded like God? What was it?"

Leoben shrugs gently, not even turning to face the Viper pilot. His attention is focused where it should be. "I don't know. Not entirely."

"Has God spoken to you before?" Lee pushes.

"Not me directly – but to others who came before me. It's their memories."

Nya's broken whisper hangs on the air. "But you don't trust those memories anymore?"

He doesn't. She can see it on his face and in the way that lovers know each other. Just as he knows that she has forgiven him the truth of his being. There are some things that surpass the explainable.

"Only you have any permanence." He smoothes her hair from her face with a blood-streaked hand. "Only you." With a slight breath he lowers his head next to hers. "You're so warm, so alive. That's what the others missed. Why they were so cynical."

"Who?" Nya fades slightly and then refocuses on him. "Who, Leo?"

"The other copies of me." He brightens. "God can tell us what to do, but he cannot live it. He does not know what this is like."

"What will happen to you?"

Leoben looks up at Lee Adama and shrugs. "I don't know. I've betrayed God. Either I will be discovered or I won't."

"But your memory lives on."

"I will live on." He hugs Nya close in to him and luxuriates in the strong throb of her heart. "It's her that I worry about."

"I'm…"

------

Sudden stillness outside of the bridge – and then the Marines burst through.

"GET DOWN! GET DOWN!"

"SHOOT THE CYLON!"

"CAPTAIN ADAMA, ON THE FLOOR!"

"SHOOT IT!"

* * *

**To be continued...**


	7. Chapter 7

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This is it. Last chapter. Enjoy.**

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**The Price of Freedom – Part II**

"NO!" Three voices with only one word between them.

The Marines try to grab Captain Adama as he puts his body between Leoben Conoy and the ten weapons pointed at him. There is a moment of uncertainty as they cannot carry out their orders.

"Stand down." Lee commands, but they don't immediately respond. His father's orders, against his, carry unequal weight.

"Sir, we have our duty."

"No, please." Nya whispers as her fingers cling to Leoben. "Don't leave me. I don't want to be alone."

"You never will be. I will not die – not completely."

"Get away from her!" One young Marine steps forward with his weapon. "Now! Or I'll shoot!"

Leoben's eyes change suddenly, going black with rage. "Hurt her and die."

At the back of the room, Tom Zarek and Doc Cottle push their way in as the Marines try to stop them.

"Doctor, this room is not secured."

"And if my patient dies while you dither…" Cottle pushes past him and spots Nya and Leoben. He only gives the Cylon one look and then kneels next to them. "If you kill me, there is no one who can help her."

"I control my destiny." Leoben answers. "Save hers."

Cottle nods and bends his head to look at the wound. His ministrations make Nya wince with pain but she remains still. When he looks up it is to Lee. "We need to get her back to Galactica. The bleeding has stopped but that bullet has to come out. You said that Baltar shot her?"

Lee nods. "And Zarek too."

"I can wait." Zarek fixes the younger man with a stare. "But some things can't."

Everyone's eyes fix upon him.

"It's about Baltar…" he begins.

"About me?" Comes that arrogant voice as Baltar is escorted around the corridor by two Marines. "Isn't that interesting. Well, here I am."

------

"O venerable Goddess, hear my prayer and make benevolent my life thy care. Send, blessed queen, to ships a prosperous breeze and waft them safely over stormy seas."

He laughs gently as Nya says the quiet prayer that starts her every shift. "Do you think she listens everytime?"

She fixes him with an angry look, it's not like Leoben to mock her. Her fingers fly across the console as she sets course towards a tiny planet that looks promising from orbit. "That's not the point. You must give respect consistently for it to have any value."

"Hmm." Leoben leans back against the railing, his uniform khakis are already creased with dirt and grease from working. "I hate these split shifts."

"If you don't like my beliefs, then why be with me?"

One eyebrow quirks at her. "Touchy. I just was asking if you thought she listened. Hell, we're not even on the seas. Why don't you use the one for stars instead?"

Nya doesn't answer for a long time, but when she does her hand steals up around the pendant about her neck. The silver chain is hidden under the loose waves of her hair and she has to pluck at it to pull it free. "Because the old prayers are the best ones."

"Old prayers. New prayers. What if the Gods aren't there?"

"Leo!" She snaps angrily. "What's wrong with you?"

He shakes his head as though her question confuses him. And then the cynical expression fades and the Leoben that Nya knows descends back over him. "Sorry, Nya. Sometimes I feel like there are two different versions of me in the same body. I'm sorry."

His apology softens her anger and she turns toward him, grey eyes full of concern. "I'll try not to do it so much if it bothers you."

"No. No. Don't worry." He leans in to kiss her. "You just remind me of how precarious life is out here. I'll be in the aft airlock if you need me."

"Okay." Nya turns back to her console as he leaves even as she feels a strange chill descend over her. The horrible feeling that something is wrong. She punches the comm. button to Xanthes chamber. "Sir, I need to leave the bridge."

"What's wrong?" His voice echoes through the unit.

But Nya is already running toward the airlock and the sense of unease crashes inside of her.

------

Baltar looks over the crowd on the bridge. "You have your orders." He tells the Marines. "Kill him."

"_Yes,_" whispers Six. "_Kill him now._" Her green dress has grown longer, swirling to the floor with split panels that gape open to show off immaculate legs.

Leoben's eyes widen as he hears those words, clearer now, than they have ever been. Without the programming muddying his thinking, everything is becoming so much clearer. Like the day that Nya brought him back from the darkness, her presence and love has brought him a new kind of salvation.

"I know what you are." He says out loud. "I know what you are."

Baltar stiffens and locks eyes with the angry Six. "We are human. You are a Cylon. You have killed the family and friends of every man here." To the Marines. "Kill it now!"

"No." Zarek steps forward. "We have his word that no more violence will occur."

But Leoben turns away from the space that Six inhabits and looks at Zarek with clear eyes. "Would you do it all again?"

"What?"

Everyone in the room is confused. Nya reaches toward Leoben but Cottle won't let her up. She struggles for a moment against the grip but subsides, weakened and fragile from her blood loss.

"Would you do it again?" The rifles aimed at him waver as the Marines are uncertain of whose orders to follow. "After the years of prison, the hatred of the other Colonies, the distrust even after you were freed. Would you still push the trigger?"

Comprehension dawns in Tom's eyes and he pauses to think about it. Prison wasn't kind to him, none of it was. Somewhere along the way he lost the purity of intention that he'd once had but the conviction was still there dredged in his past. He'd done the right thing to free his Colony and that was all that mattered.

"It was the right decision then – and now." Zarek says. "No matter what followed, I would do it again."

Leoben nods and turns back to Nya. He drops to his knees next to her and kisses her as though he needs to drink in every last sensation of her touch. There is more passion in his embrace than any machine could ever have and those present wonder how far along the path Leoben has stepped towards true humanity.

She gazes up at him with tear filled eyes and a painful ache in her throat that paralyzes her.

"Shhh," he whispers. "For though a man have sorrow and grief in his newly-troubled soul and lives in dread because his heart is distressed. Yet, when he remembers what started his feet on this path, at once he forgets his heaviness and remembers his sorrows not at all. - For she will be waiting for him at the end."

He leans in and kisses her one last time. "The voice…" he starts. "Is the serpent in the garden."

Faster than humanly possible, Leoben lunges away from Nya and towards the Marines. Reaction fuels their response and gunfire shatters the small space. Bullets strike Leoben and smash his body into the bulkhead, broken and bleeding.

Nya is screaming and the other men shouting as the Cylon slumps under the onslaught and falls. Cottle releases her to help drag Zarek off Baltar from where the big man is pummeling the Vice President.

She pushes the blanket off of her and crawls toward him. The pain in her stomach makes her whimper in agony but she continues toward him. She cannot see the fierce rage of Six as the other woman stands above her slow progress. She cannot see the vicious curl of the Cylon's lip at her impotence to cause this pair any more pain. Especially not that the traitor has given her away. She snarls but cannot stop Nya from reaching the bloody body of Leoben.

"Leoben." Nya whispers as she reaches him.

He reaches for her and she tries to drag herself that much closer. His eyes cannot see her, as they are blinded with blood. "Don't cry, Nya."

"You're dying."

"Just this once." His pale attempt at humor makes her tears come harder. "I will not be gone forever. I will find you again."

"I'm frightened, Leoben."

"Don't be." He coughs and deep, thick venous blood pours out of his mouth. "Remember what I said about the serpent." He coughs again. "It is almost time."

"No…."

He smiles as he touches her skin. "You brought me to the light. You were right. The price of freedom is sacrifice, but for you I would sacrifice myself time and time again."

"No…"

"I will find you again…..I promise……You'll feel it..."

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Nya limps through the doorway of her quarters as Tom Zarek waits in the hall for her to see the changes that were made. The destruction of the Marines' search is gone, but so is any remainder of her life with Leoben. Tears clutch at the back's of her eyes as she tries to force them down. The angry burn spreads until all she feels is the pain, still so new that it seems only a moment again.

She clutches the desk for support when she feels his presence at her shoulder. He is holding something out to her. She takes it with shaking hands and unfolds the envelope. Pictures spill forth. She almost falls and he catches her gently as he produces the other items from his pockets.

In complete silence they set up the tiny altar. Two blue candles and the pictures of Leoben arrayed between them. Nya removes her necklace and impresses the pendant into the wax.

"Can you?" He asks gently, but she can't, her voice has deserted her. "Nya, no matter what anyone says. He was - he is - a hero."

"He was a Cylon." She can barely get the words out.

"He was still a hero. Not many men can die for what they believe in. He died to protect you."

Tom Zarek takes her hands in his and they both bow their heads before the faintly dancing lights. "To the Orai, who guard the gates of heaven and all the Gods who can hear us. Please, hear your humble servants and grant us this plea. One of ours who is unworthy of death has crossed your path. Return him to us. Let him hear our prayer. Unbar the gates and let him find his way home."

Nya's voice trembles as she begins.

"Rise again, rise again. Though your heart be broken, or life at end. No matter what you've lost; be it home, a love, a friend. Like Alkestis from the darkness. Rise again."

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**Thanks again for everyone who read. I hope this was a interesting addition to the BSG universe without straying too far afield. I had a great time writing this and am debating trying to develop a sequel... We'll see how this season ends.**

**Again - all comments/criticism are appreciated. Thanks :>  
**

**I have to give credit again for Nya's prayer (Orphic Hymns) and Leoben's prayer (adapted from Hesiod's Theogeny) and the last line (adapted from a quote by Stan Rodgers). **

**PS. Alkestis was a wife who loved her husband, Admetes, so much that when he was fated to die, she went in his place. Her sacrifice was so great that she was allowed to return from Hades to be with him again. It was one of my big influences for this. **


	8. Chapter 8

Wow. I'm dying to see the end of Season 2. **Download** left me thrilled. It fits right in to where I was going with my little bit of fluff.

Question for those who read.

**Yes** or **No** to a Sequel? If nobody is interested in reading I won't write it, but I'd really like to. (Mainly cause Leoben and Zarek are my fave BSG characters and don't get nearly enough screen time.)

Email me a vote (address on homepage) or respond here. Thanks so much!


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